In the art of hospital beds or emergency response beds, many different versions are widely available. However, available versions known to me have not been configured in an adaptable or interchangeable manner that allows use of the beds in a multitude of different configurations, depending upon the situation actually encountered. Nor have such prior art beds been offered in designs with flexibility to meet the needs of patients, and medical staff in such a facility. Nor have such prior art beds or bed systems been provided with adaptable features for handling deceased patients.
Further, in many governmental jurisdictions, new legislation or regulations have been adopted or are proposed that recommend or require the acquisition, availability, or use of certain types and numbers of beds in case of a significant incident, such as a major natural catastrophe, industrial accident, or terrorist incident.
Various systems have adopted certain technological features. However, in such prior art devices known to me, there are significant drawbacks with respect to the ability to decontaminate the beds after use, so that they can be reused during an ongoing incident. Further, in such prior art beds, multiple designs or alternate structures must generally be acquired to allow multi-functional roles of the equipment. Thus, there remains a significant and as yet unmet need for an emergency response treatment bed system configuration that would allow easy and quick interchangeability, such as between hospital bed configuration, patient cot configuration, cadaver storage configuration, autopsy configuration, or office desk configuration, without the necessity of acquiring or utilizing completely separate hardware components for such tasks.